The Merry Wives of Windsor is the most lowbrow of Shakespeare’s comedies — and probably
the one that translates least effectively for contemporary audiences.

With broad physical comedy and manic energy, the Actors’ Theatre of Columbus production makes a
strenuous, if only intermittently successful, attempt to wring laughs from the oft-sour
material.

The comedy centers on the schemes of the two wives of the title — Mistress Ford (Elizabeth
Harelick) and Mistress Page (Michelle Weiser) — to take revenge on lecherous, self-satisfied Sir
John Falstaff (Adam Simon), who tries to win both their affections and their husbands’ money.

Subplots involve the courting of Mistress Page’s daughter, Anne (Cecelia Bellomy), by three
suitors; a duel between an affected French doctor (Danny Turek) and a huffy Welsh pastor (Stefan
Langer); and the attempt by Mrs. Ford’s unreasonably jealous husband (Micah Logsdon) to prove his
wife’s infidelity despite the more rational influence of Mrs. Page’s husband (Nick Baldasare).

The main strength of the production — directed by Beth Kattelman — lies in the affectionate,
playful relationship between the wives, particularly in the deliberately excessive performances
they put on to fool Falstaff. Simon’s Falstaff is less imposing and charismatic than he might be,
and often comes across as more of a dramatic device to keep the repetitious action in motion than
as a compelling character.

Baldasare’s relative restraint comes as a relief in the sometimes frenetically overplayed
atmosphere of the play and serves as a contrast to Logsdon’s long, slow burns.

Among the minor characters, Jennifer Youngblood is slyly amusing as manipulative Mistress
Quickly, and Turek is captivating as the pretentious, ambitious doctor.